


Two Captain's Missing the Mark

by Cynical_Internet



Category: One Piece
Genre: ASL Brothers, Akuma no Mi | Devil Fruit, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/M, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, Heart Pirates - Freeform, Kikoku, Luffy Being Luffy, M/M, Minor Fushichou Marco | Phoenix Marco/Portgas D. Ace, Mugiwara no Ichimi | Straw Hat Pirates, Ope Ope no Mi | Op-Op Fruit, Other, Slow Burn, Slow Romance, Time Travel, Time Travel Fix-It
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-10
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-21 06:01:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 17,767
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14278425
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Cynical_Internet/pseuds/Cynical_Internet
Summary: Across the seas, two people who had lost nearly everything suddenly gained an understanding of the future that they didn't have before. It was too late to change the things that virtually ruined their younger years, but they still had time to improve the future... Time Travel / Second Chance -- Adopted from OhhPlease





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Two Captain's Missing the Mark](https://archiveofourown.org/external_works/369591) by OhhPlease. 



Kaido was dead, however, both captains knew that they were heading towards the same fate.

Luffy was grinning horribly wide because he didn't have any regrets. To him, this was a great death, reached when attempting to achieve his dream.

Even Law found himself giving a smaller version of that same expression; he was at peace with this. After having gotten his revenge, dying an interesting death, achieving something others would consider impossible... Well, it was certainly worth it. Who else could say that they'd killed after defeating one of the Yonko?

...

...

...

Luffy's eyes snapped open and he waved his head around. How did he survive? Did Chopper somehow get him and heal him? Where was Torao? Was he okay? However, instead of being met with the face of his fuzzy-faced doctor he found himself looking at a face he'd hoped he'd never see again, at least, not until after he finished his adventure and came back to Goa to pay off his debt to Makino.

Dadan.

That, of course, didn't make any sense, even Luffy knew that.

"What's going on?" He asked, his expression dazed. Maybe he was mistaking this monster of a woman in front of him with the face of his reindeer's transformed state?

"… You don't remember?" The figure asked hesitantly.

"Nope." Came Luffy's blunt answer.

"Luffy… You collapsed yesterday after crying for a few hours when you received the news that… Sabo is dead."

The answer came in hesitant pauses, and upon hearing that Luffy went into a state of shock and disbelief. Sabo died? That was years ago, and sure, he never forgot and would kick any Celestial Dragon's ass that ended up in front of him, nonetheless, this didn't change the fact Luffy knew it happened YEARS ago.

So what was going on here?

Damn he wished he had Torao or Robin, they were smart, they could help him figure this mystery out.

Luffy cocked his head to the side. "… That was years ago. Who are you exactly?" Luffy asked slowly.

"That was just last night Luffy. Maybe you need to go to the hospital… I'm Dadan remember? I can't have Garp finding out I damaged you in a severe way." The orange haired woman replied, hoping that Luffy wasn't mentally damaged. Garp would kill her, for sure.

Luffy was an idiot, but even he knew that this wasn't possible. It just wasn't POSSIBLE.

This begged the question of just how the FUCK it was possible.

...

...

...

Across an ocean or two, another person snapped awake and frantically looked around. Trafalgar D. Water Law didn't really understand the situation, but he was paranoid enough that even completely discombobulated, he still wanted to gain a full understanding as soon as possible.

What he came across was something that was inconceivable, but there were very few explanations for why he looked so different upon glancing toward the mirror. A child was shown in the reflection, perhaps the age of thirteen if he could remember corrected - mostly based on his lack of tattoos. Getting up, completely and utterly ignoring any sense of vertigo that he could be feeling, he looked around for the date.

Because surely not.

Yet it was true, he had somehow ended up moving backwards in time.

Law considered himself a logical individual. Therefore he didn't exactly believe he could die and somehow end up in a past body of himself. However on the Grand Line one should prepare for anything, right?

This left him with the question of what exactly he should do if this was more than just a fucked up dream. The safest thing he could do would be to  _not_  change anything, but Law knew that just returning back to the past would affect the way he acted even if only by a tiny bit, so that wasn't exactly possible to change nothing. So if he couldn't stop changes from happening, it was best to try and understand how it happened in the first place.

Most likely some devil fruit power, which left him with more possibilities than he thought. If it was a devil fruit, then there was someone next to him when it had been used.

It was unlikely one person came back in time, but two?

But if anyone was going to defy the possible it would be Monkey D. Luffy.

Law needed to know, because even though he didn't like to admit it, Luffy-ya had become someone he'd cared about just as much as he cared for his own crew. Luffy was different though because unlike the rest of his crew who weren't overly strong by Grand Line standards, Luffy could take care of himself without the need for Law to step in. These factors lead him to an inability to NOT get attached.

That line of thought could be saved for later. First thing was first was finding out if his theory was correct. For such an outlandish thing there was only one possibility, he'd need to go there himself. He didn't know any other way to get in touch with the man other than going to the island himself. From what he remembered, Luffy had lived on Dawn Island – Surprisingly the other man had been nearly as sparse in explaining his past as Law was, and that was saying something.

Either way, with his plan settled, he'd make his way there as fast as humanly possible.

...

...

...

Seeing Ace for the first time was a punch to the stomach that Luffy hadn't been expecting. He'd gone years with the knowledge that he no longer had brothers, then, standing in front of him, one appeared. He was alive, breathing, and just standing there with that bratty look on his face that Ace always had before learning manners from Makino.

So when Luffy managed to pull off his first Gomu Gomu no Rocket right into Ace's arms, wrapping them several times around his brothers tiny, so fucking tiny, frame, it should have been forgiven.

Instead, a fist bonked the top of his head, "Shut up you little crybaby! Let go you leach!"

Ace was struggling out of the embrace, but no matter what Luffy wouldn't be letting go.

"I'm just... so glad... that Ace-nii... is alive!" Luffy sobbed out, and he didn't let go of Ace for the rest of the day, no matter how hard Ace tried to pry his brother off.

...

...

...

"I'm looking for Monkey D. Luffy," Law announced, balancing an unnaturally large sword against his shoulder, he didn't have Bepo around to hold it for him yet, so as ridiculous as it might have looked, there was nothing he could do about it.

To say that he was getting suspicious and dark looks from the townspeople would be understating it.

Though they didn't dare to scowl at Law after he returned the look.

' _How Luffy-ya came from a town of such cowards I'm unable to comprehend_ ,' Law thought silently to himself, feeling annoyed at all the looks, but forcing himself to walk through the town, asking after his ally. People gave ranged responses, but mostly it just boiled down to the fact they haven't seen the 'Brat' or 'Garp's Brat' for months.

"Are you a friend of Luffy-kun?" A green haired woman finally spoke up, actually engaging beyond a simple dismissive line.

Law blinked up at the woman, she just smiled at him softly and waited for her question to be answered. She was wearing a dress, had deep, dark eyes, and green hair. Beyond that though, the woman looked frail, like a gust of wind would blow her over.

"I guess it's something like that," Law admitted reluctantly, not really wanting to explain the way he viewed his relationship toward his fellow D, though Luffy likely thought the relationship was that simple. Even if he were to say that the two of them were allies, the woman would just see it as some sort of pretend game between children, rather then a statement of fact.

"Garp-san took him into the woods and up to the bandits for training and I haven't seen him since. I've been worried... But Luffy-kun can take care of himself. You probably shouldn't go in there alone, there are a lot of dangerous predators there. Maybe when Garp-san comes back, he can take you up to see your friend." The woman suggested with a smile, "My name is Makino, and who are you?"

Law could feel his eye twitch slightly, reminding himself that he looked like a child, and she wasn't technically ordering him, just giving him a suggestion.

"Trafalgar D. Water Law, thank you for the information, Makino-ya, but I'll be fine," Law stated, walking out of the bar and toward the woods, waving his thanks to the woman as he left.

The forest on the island would have been intimidating for someone who hadn't seen the Grand Line before. The trees were huge, and within the first few minutes of entering, Law could tell that the animals in the forest were the same. There were signs of large paw prints in the mud, and also abnormally large piles of faecal matter were scattered around. It was starting to get annoying, the lengths with which he was going through to get in contact with Mugiwara-ya, hopefully, the trip turned out to be worth it, because otherwise, Law would not be overly happy with going through all this trouble, and me might have to decapitate the young rubber-boy in retaliation.

Eventually, Law gave in, and with a despondent sigh, he started to call out, "Mugiwara-ya! MUUUGGIIIIWAAARRAAAA-YAAA!"

...

...

...

"MUUUGGIIIIWAAARRAAAA-YAAA!"

It echoed around the forest, even going as far as to enter the bandit's grove. Ace looked annoyed, wondering just who was yelling that loudly. Luffy, on the hand, slowly sat up and rubbed the sleep out of his eyes. He'd been having an afternoon nap when the loud noise broke through his sleep-deprived mind.

' _I was dreaming of Torao yelling at me about one of his boring plans_  – '

"MUUUGGIIIIWAAARRAAAA-YAAA!"

Luffy blinked a few times before his mouth spread into a wide grin. That wasn't a dream, that was, without a doubt, the screaming voice of a surgeon who was annoyed. Placing his hat back onto his head, Luffy took off out of the hut and toward the noise, leaving behind a worried Ace. After all, Luffy hadn't stopped being a clingy crybaby for over a week, and then suddenly he snapped out of it because of some screeching idiot? Whatever it was, Ace wouldn't forgive them if his brother got hurt.

With that thought, Ace gathered up his pipe and went to follow after his weakling brother.

...

...

...

"MUUUGGIIIIW—" Law was cut off by an impact hitting his middle at speeds which were practically inhuman, a face had embedded itself into Law's stomach, speaking barely intelligible because of the way it was grumbled into the skin.

Law could feel a headache coming on.

Still, he was glad that Luffy-ya seemed to have his memories, even if less than impressed with the amount of physical contact he was being forced to participate in.

"Room," Law intoned, switching Luffy out for a nearby rock, and glaring at the man, no, boy, when he looked about ready to rocket himself back into the surgeon's personal space.

Luffy pouted at it but knew that unlike Ace, Torao might actually cut him up if he wasn't careful. Torao was mean sometimes like that, the pout was lost a moment later and replaced with a grin, "Torao came back too! I thought it was only me! I didn't really get it at first, but I think we came back in time which is really awesome, must have happened because of some mystery Grand Line thing."

"I didn't miss your inability to shut up," Law stated, but his eyes were dropping a little bit in exhaustion. That room had barely been five feet in diameter, but he was already exhausted.

It was beyond frustrating that he would need to train all of his skills back up to par.

"Shishishishi, Torao is still funny. Did I tell you that Ace is alive again! I'll have to be stronger than last time,  _really really strong,_  so that I can protect him and my crew better and become the Pirate King and go on tons of adventures..." Luffy just yapped on and on, far too excited about seeing his nakama here. It had been so long since he'd seen anyone other than his beloved brother, and he loved Ace, but he found himself missing his nakama rather quickly.

The two of them were inwardly relieved as all hell that they weren't alone in this time travel bullshit.

"Luffy! YOU IDIOT YOU CAN'T JUST RUN OFF!" Ace screamed, finally breaking through the bushes, only to see his brother standing in front of an older kid with a huge sword, "OI! LUFFY GET AWAY FROM THAT GUY!"

"ACE! This is Torao, he's my nakama!" Luffy announced to the world.

Uncaring of the fact that Law was not only tired but far too tired to deal with Luffy's shit.

So tired, in fact, that he fell asleep against the tree he had, at some point, started to lean on during Luffy's none stop tirade.

"Eh, he fell asleep," Luffy stated nonchalantly, poking Torao's check. The fact that the action wasn't met with Luffy's neck meeting the tip of a sword spoke for itself, "Let's bring him back to Dadan's so he can sleep better!"

"DON'T INVITE STRANGERS HOME!"

"Torao isn't a stranger, he's Torao!"

Luffy picked up Torao and slung him over his back, "Ace! Bring Kikoku with us!"


	2. Chapter 2

 

 

Trafalgar Law was a light sleeper, but when he was truly exhausted, particularly after using his devil fruit abilities, he fell into a much deeper sleep. The only time that it would lighten was if he subconsciously used his Observational Haki and didn't find anyone that he knew around him. It was both a good habit and a bad one. When he was with his crew it never turned out to be a problem, but the fonder he grew of the Strawhat Crew, the more dangerous this habit became. He trusted them when he slept, and therefore, fell into deeper slumber.

The sort of deeper slumber, which allowed for pranks to be played.

So he didn't immediately wake up when he felt something gliding across his face, instead, he just slept on.

It was the snickering that finally woke him up, especially combined with the smell of marker ink.

Law sat up and took inventory of the room. Right in front of him was a clearly amused Monkey D. Luffy and Portgas D. Ace, both trying almost desperately to keep laughter inside, placing a hand over there mouths as though it would stop the outburst. The two where clearly brothers, because the foolishness seemed to run in their family. Leaned up against the wall was Kikoku, which Law was grateful for. Not that he thought Luffy would leave the sword behind - The Rubberman knew the sort of attachment swordsman gave their swords and wouldn't make that mistake.

Finally, Law decided to just get it over with. Fashioning his stiff from slumber face into a calm expression he asked in a tone deepened with exhaustion, "What's so funny Monkey-ya, Freckles-ya?"

Both burst into laughter, not able to form words, but very clearly pointing toward his face.

Law stood up and walked over to Kikoku, Luffy immediately clammed up in his laughter, though Ace didn't so much as notice the fact their guest had gotten up.

He pulled the blade just slightly out of it's home and looked at his reflection.

Scribbled onto his chin and the side of his face was his facial hair, something which he currently couldn't grow in as puberty had only just started - and the reminder that he'd have to go through it again wasn't exactly pleasant - the mockery that was made of his facial hair was something that only could have been done with knowledge of the future. Mugiwara-ya proving once again that he wasn't trustworthy to sleep around. Not that Law could get that CLEAR fact to register in his traitorous unconscious mind.

Instead of replying though, Law just wiped it off and gave his fellow captain a smirk.

It had Luffy even more worried than before.

Law would have his revenge, and though it wouldn't be any time soon, it would be swift and effective.

"OI! I JUST NOTICED WHAT YOU CALLED ME, YOU BASTARD!" Ace suddenly exclaimed, falling out of his laughter and looking toward the new person in the house.

"There is nothing wrong with noticing your physical traits, Freckles-ya, now could you leave so that I can talk to Monkey-ya in private?" Law returned, dragging Kikoku with him as he sat in front of his fellow time traveller, resting the sword on his shoulder, and looking at Ace expectantly.

"No way am I leaving some suspicious person in here with my little brother!" Ace immediately exclaimed, and got to his feet quickly, grabbing his pipe, disbelieving of the fact he allowed himself to relax even for a moment in the presence of a potential enemy, "Remember what I said Lu, stay away from him! You have to stop trusting people you just met, we already lost Sab- "

Ace clammed up, and Luffy dipped his head so to hide his eyes beneath the rim of his hat. True, he could take happiness from the fact that Sabo was alive, even if he was far away and without memories.

Still.

Ace had only lost Sabo, even if only temporarily, and Luffy didn't want to make his brother feel worse about the whole thing.

The fact remained that Luffy had known several people in Grey Terminal, beyond Sabo, he met  _that_  woman there, who swore him to secrecy about her existence, as well as several friends that he made whenever they went into 'town'. All of those people were now gone. Ace hadn't known Luffy was close to them...

Ace would never forgive himself if he knew, and Ace already had enough trouble justifying his very existence.

So, instead of staying sad, instead of letting it affect him, Luffy smiled at Ace, "Ace-nii is being overprotective, I've known Torao for three years, it'll be fine!"

Luffy had never ACTUALLY blamed his brother after all. Any sour emotions toward Ace left the second they lost Sabo, and now that Luffy was back in time, he was far too grateful to have the chance to save Ace, Luffy wouldn't ruin that by acting anything other than appreciative for the chance.

"It's Trafalgar Law, not Torao," Law swiftly added, less to correct Luffy, as he quickly learned that nickname wouldn't be going anywhere when it came to his fellow captain, but so that Freckles-ya would know his actual name.

Ace sputtered, looking between the two of them, his face turning red in anger toward Law interrupting the discussion, and embarrassment for Luffy's words, "I'm not being overprotective Lu! Just shut up! I said you can't hang out with that guy so you can't!"

"I don't feel like listening to you though, shishishishishi~" Luffy laughed out, and plopped his fingers into his ears.

Ace immediately started to shake him for all that he was worth, ranting about bratty little brothers or something along that line.

"Freckles-ya, both Mugiwara-ya and I are time travellers." Law suddenly admitted, looking right at the ranting boy, who immediately stilled his actions and turned toward the other boy.

There was a moment of silence.

"THAT'S SO STUPID WHO WOULD BELIEVE THAT!" Ace roared, looking beyond put out, "FINE! WHATEVER! If you're the type that would play pretend with Lu than I guess you can't be that bad. If I feel anything suspicious though, I'm coming right back in here to beat your ass!"

With that, Ace stomped his way out of the room, and Law let a triumphant smirk curl to his lips.

"Torao is so smooth," Luffy commented with a laugh as he watched the door slam behind his brother.

"No one would believe such a thing, especially from people so young," Law commented, letting the lighter moment settle before allowing a more serious expression to settle onto his face, "Time travel, only around you Monkey-ya."

Luffy just grinned and crossed his arms over his head, rocking back a bit, "Awesome, right?"

That was one word for it... There was also baffling, worrying, and awe-inducing to give a few more.

"Perhaps that is one way to put it," Law admitted, "Before I say anything else, I have to ask, are we still allies?"

Law didn't think that Luffy-ya would have changed his mind about his ideal of them being nakama, but it was still important to make sure before Law revealed any of his thoughts or plans. If the two of them were going to be going back to nothing more than rivals, the surgeon wouldn't be giving his enemy a leg up. He wasn't that gracious, that was simply the pure fact of the matter.

"Nakama," Luffy bluntly corrected.

Law just waved the word away, neither agreeing or disagreeing, "Good, then we can start to make some rough plans. Rather, I can start to plan around your blunt and reckless actions and make things more doable, is there anything in particular that you really want to accomplish, Mugiwara-ya?"

"I WANNA SAVE ACE!" Luffy exclaimed, only to have Law slam a hand over his mouth with a glare.

"Quietly Mugiwara-ya!" Law scolded, though you could barely tell through the calm demeanour that swiftly fell back into place, "I think I could have figured that one out for myself, anything else?"

"Pirate King," Luffy stated, but this time he kept his voice down.

"I appreciate your predictability in the matter, Monkey-ya," Law drawled out dryly, an amused look coming to his eyes, "Currently I have to start getting my crew together. Bepo, Penguin, and Shachi joined me this year. I was thinking that I could come back here every so often so that we could hammer out a more detailed plan, but the barebones of it would be that we work more closely as allies far earlier than before. So whenever you're about to do some stupidly reckless thing, you call the Polar Tang, and we'll come to back you up, and display a truly united front."

"You're going to get your talking bear back soon! You should bring him with you!" Luffy enthused, pretty much deciding that Law could take care of the more complicated parts, and he could concentrate on the things that actually mattered with what his friend was saying.

"It will be very important that we get our crews up to par quickly though," Law warned, and something about the tone he was using got Luffy to actually pay attention to his fellow captain, "We'll need to be stronger than before, because we will look like much more of a threat to the government than we did before."

Luffy always took the threat to his crew's life with the utmost seriousness and took Law's words to heart.

_Pfft, Heart_ , Luffy inwardly snorted in laughter, trying to keep it off his face.

The look Torao shot him clearly told Luffy that he failed.

It occurred to Luffy that he forgot something that might have come off as rude, "What are Torao's goals?"

The smirk that spread across Torao's face at those words had Luffy grinning back before the words even escaped his friend's mouth. It wasn't just the smirk though, that a sort of steal hard determination that had crossed his eyes, "I'll get my revenge on Joker, become a Yonko, and personally deliver my sword through the stomach of any Gorosei or Government figurehead that pissed me off."

_Anyone who knew what happened at_ _Flevance and fucking allowed it,_  Law clarified in his mind his fist clenching in anger at the reminder.

"I get to kick Mingo's ass again!" Luffy cheered, liking the sound of his allies goals all over again. Pretty similar to the ones that got them to ally together in the first place.

"You got to kick his ass last time Monkey-ya, it's my turn," Law claimed, almost daring Luffy to go against him in the matter.

He was beyond grateful that Luffy-ya had gotten revenge for Corazon, but this time, it would be Law that finally fulfilled his own need to unleash on Doflamingo.

To set Corazon back to rest again, as he deserved.

"Stingy..." Luffy muttered under his breath.

...

...

...

"Do you anywhere that we can buy a few sets of Den-Den Mushi, Mugiwara-ya?" Law asked as he took a place at the table, completely ignoring the family of bandits that were throwing him looks, and Ace tossing him suspicious glares.

Luffy scrunched his face in thought, but he honestly didn't know. They weren't common in the village, so the most likely place to check would be High Town but... It wasn't a good idea to go there now, not after Grey Terminal had just been burned at there was likely still a Tenryubito in attendance.

The wound of losing the people of Grey Terminal was still too fresh on his mind - Luffy highly doubted he would be able to see the Tenryubito and not deck him across the town - something which wouldn't end well for anyone in the island that was already going through the loss of hundreds of lives. Then again, Torao could likely go there and see... Torao had way better control over his emotions after all, and he didn't seem to hate Tenryubito all that much, considering he was in the auction house without beating their asses.

"Probably in High Town, but I can't go there, and neither can Ace, not for a while anyway," Luffy explained, his hat shadowed his eyes. It wasn't a conscious move, but it hide his emotions rather efficiently.

"You aren't the type to allow others to tell you what to do..." Law trailed off, casting a questioning look to his fellow captain out of the corner of his eye.

"SHUT UP!" Ace suddenly exploded and threw a bowl of rice at Torao.

It hit the swordsman's face, the rice falling off grain by grain. Silence reigned.

"You should work on that temper of yours, Freckles-ya, it makes you seem pretty unimpressive." Law drawled out, his gaze laying heavy on Ace, but otherwise unaffected by the food that was on his face as he quickly cleaned himself off with his shirt, "One might even say it could get someone killed someday."

_Like yourself, when you fall for someones petty words and nearly get yourself and your brother killed, landing that brother on my table and yourself in the obituaries,_  Law thought to himself, having seen the full recordings of what happened in the War of the Best, and it had left Law with two impressions. One, Fire Fist Ace was as hot-headed as his name, and two, Whitebeard was a badass, something admittable by anyone who had seen his actions, whether marine or rivel.

Ace's teeth gritted together so hard that Law thought he could hear them for a fantastical moment before the freckled kid stomped his way out of the room.

Luffy, despite his worry for his brother, didn't waste any time bursting out into laughter, "SHISHISHISHI~! Torao looked so funny with rice all over his face~!"

"Very funny, Mugiwara-ya," Law stated dryly, before standing up and balancing Kikoku on his shoulder, the imbalance with how large the sword was causing Luffy to fall deeper into laughter even as Law started to leave the room, "I'm going to go into Town and look for a Den-Den shop, I'll be back in a few hours or so."

At least this time there was directions because smog usually meant city, and there was very clearly some sort of smog coming from one direction in particular.

...

...

...

Law stood in front of still smouldering remains of... something.

There was a sickeningly familiar scent of burning flesh among what he had first assumed to be smog.

There were whimpers erupting from somewhere around the shellshocked Law, he swallowed heavily and tried to get his head to move, to look,  _he should be over this it happened years ago,_  but nothing was getting him to move. He didn't know how long he just stood there, but eventually having pulled himself together, Law started toward the sound of pain that he'd heard before. He was met with eyes, huge eyes, filled with pain, surrounded by skin that had been practically melted off, there was an area around her legs where the bone was visible, muscles having been completely burned through.

It was a miracle that this person had survived even this long.

"L-Luffy..." The person finally managed out, nothing more than that word, just looking so very desperate for something, Law didn't know what, and even as used to blood and gore as Trafalgar D. Water Law was, this was beyond the pine with what he was prepared to deal with considering his own past.

Law could only hope to provide even a little bit of comfort before this person lost their life, something he wished his family had, "If you are referring to Monkey D. Luffy, he is okay, in the forest with his brother."

"T-Thank god..." The woman muttered, and she grinned, how did this woman grin when she barely even had  _lips_  left, "Then it's okay to go..."

Her eyes closed, and the woman died with a smile.

Law knew that sort of smile anywhere. Those people who were determined, who died with that hauntingly happy smile that drove people to new highs and goals, this woman had that.

He rose to his feet, not even sure when he had fallen to his knees, and tried to push his emotions back and do what he always did when faced with feelings that were difficult to traverse, he carried on. He walked into this 'High Town' going through several sections of city before he finally reached what his fellow captain was talking about, and there was a sickening feeling in his stomach at the way these people were going about their life like that woman didn't just die  _right out there, from a fire that couldn't have been fucking missed._ The rot of the World Government drenched this place. Maybe Law should have been expecting that, he  _knew_  of Goa Kingdom before coming here, but since Luffy-ya also was from here, he didn't suspect the possibility...

"Room," Law announced, standing in front of a Den-Den shop that was owned by some stand owner, "Shambles."

The Den-Den where switched out for nearby rocks and Law picked them up and left as quickly as possible.

He didn't want to stay in this place any longer, and he sure as hell didn't want to pay that shop owner for the Den-Den and just perpetuate the class divide that was so prevalent in the area.

...

...

...

While Law was getting the Den-Den Mushi, Luffy had followed after his brother.

"AAACCEEEEE! AAAAAACCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEE~! WHERE ARE YOU!" Luffy screamed out at the top of his lungs, and he could reach for his Haki, but even the idea of stretching out his unpracticed and raw Observation Haki wide enough to find his brother was not only tiring but also headache inducing.

"AAACCCCCCCCCCCCCCCCEEEEEEEEEE-"

"Shut up Luffy, I'm right here." Ace announced, and he was sitting up against a tree, most of his body hidden in the shade, he was hugging his knees to his chest resting his chin on his kneecaps.

Luffy didn't think he'd ever actually seen Ace looking that vulnerable before. Then again, technically speaking, he was the older brother now, and Ace always claimed that older brothers had some sort of superpower for that type of thing. The vulnerability faded away quickly, and Ace looked like he was about to stand up, to put on that same tough facade that Luffy had actually learned from Ace, but instead of letting that happen, Luffy wrapped his arms around his brother and didn't let go.

Ace wanted to cry for Sabo.

He wouldn't.

But Luffy? He was perfectly okay for crying both for Ace, and for himself. Whether it stayed that way or not, they had both lost a lot at this point in time.

If a few of those tears were made less of sadness and more of hope for the future, Ace wouldn't know the difference.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Note: Law took about a week to get to the island. Not sure how realistic it is to travel that far in this world that quick, but we can always just assume that Law was pretty close, we don't really know what he was doing for the most part after Corazon died, and before he picked up his first crew members.
> 
> I feel like kid Ace is hard to write. This is before not only manners but also before he breaks down about being a bad brother, and it's ALSO just after Sabo was 'killed'. This is a good place to mention that unlike the original author, I intend to have Sabo live, though Luffy will lose more in the fire than he originally did in canon so to balance it out and give him some of the motivation OhhPlease was trying to create by letting Sabo die that day.
> 
> Question Time!
> 
> Do you want Law to be with Luffy through the East Blue stuff like in the original version, or for them to meet up in Lougetown/Start of the Grandline?


	3. Chapter 3

 

 

To say that Law wanted to leave earlier than he'd originally planned would be an under-exaggeration. Once he made it back to the bandit's place and handed Luffy his recently stolen Den-Den Mushi, Law was ready to head out.

"Ehhh?! Torao already leaving, but it's not even dinner time yet!" Luffy exclaimed, pointing toward the large animal that he and Ace had dragged back after hunting. After their little emotional episode, Ace had stormed off to get some meat, and Luffy couldn't exactly protest  _that_  so he'd followed after.

"I'll survive off the rice bath I got from Freckles-ya temper tantrum," Law stated, shooting a smirk toward the hot-headed boy, who immediately bore his teeth and looked ready to lunge forward. Not that it got much reaction from Law, who just widened his grin, "Besides, I've got to go meet up with my crew."

Any protests that Luffy might have had immediately died down.

There was only one last thing that Law had to do before he left.

"When I went into town I went through an area where a fire was dying down," Law started explaining, and the two brothers in front of him tensed up, even Luffy-ya, something that Law didn't think he'd ever seen before, "There was a woman there who was asking after you, Mugiwara-ya. Once she knew you were okay, she died with a smile."

_She died without regrets._

Luffy listened to the words blankly.

When Luffy realized that he wasn't back far enough to stop the fire, he'd felt horrible, but took what he was given the chance to save Ace. His first life, Luffy just assumed that woman died, and hadn't been able to know if she regretted coming to him, or if she blamed Luffy for what happened. Those thoughts had faded over the years,  _and yet..._  Luffy wasn't exactly the type of person to care about that sort of thing,  _but..._

_Knowing that she died without regrets was..._

Luffy gave an equally as blank looking Torao a radiant smile, "Thank you, Torao."

That was the end of that, Law just gave a nod of acknowledgement and left without another glance backwards, his huge sword looking hilarious to anyone who knew that the teen wouldn't grow into it within a few years.

...

...

...

Luffy found himself falling into place as a child easily. The only thing that really frustrated him was the fact that he couldn't get his rubber body to work properly. Ever since he came back, whenever he tried an attack, there would never be enough power behind it. He just wasn't as stretchy as he was in the future. It had Luffy pouting because he was better than this, and he really wanted to impress Ace and Gramps with his newfound abilities! Even if he was improving much faster than he originally did because of his knowledge of the way his attacks worked, it was NOT as easy as he wished it would be.

After practice, Luffy would usually pout.

Ace would come back with the hunt of the day and Luffy would immediately forget his frustrations.

It was a month and there still hadn't been a word from Torao, which Luffy didn't mind so much, he knew that his nakama could take care of himself, especially since said nakama was leaving to get his own crewmates.

...

...

...

The unmistakable sight of Swallow Island was pulling past the horizon, and Law lets a smile pull to his lips. Not a smirk, but an honest to god smile. He missed his crew, he always did when they were separated, but Bepo especially had a place carved in Law's heart. Besides that, he was on that small boat for over a month, only getting to stretch his legs when he was practising with his sword. Even then, it was repetitive and boring to do the same thing in the same place every day.

The only place that he hadn't felt like that was the Polar Tang, and the Strawhats ship, Thousand Sunny.

Both had an atmosphere to them that stopped Law from sliding into mind-numbing boredom.

Making dock earned him the strange looks that he still needed to get used to. The consolation being; the looks would be filled with awe and fear within the next decade. A wide, confident smirk to the onlookers had them averting their gazes, and Law started to make his way inland. When he was on this island the first time around, Bepo was trying his best to find a boat that would take him to Zou, asking any of the ships on the island whether they would take him on. Of course, the best way to find a high volume of seafaring men was the bar.

Bepo hung around there, and because of how often he was there, eventually, two people started to take more and more offence to the Mink.

Law walked into the nearest bar to the coast, and his narrowed gaze quickly scanned the room.

There, in the corner, just as he was expecting.

Bepo was there, in the corner, nursing several blood matted wounds.

If it wasn't for the fact that Law knew who those wounds came from, they would find themselves dead. Instead, he'd find them, and force them to their knees asking for Bepo's forgiveness, even though Bepo would never ask for it. Law quickly made his way over, ignoring the way that Bepo quickly looked up at him with fear in his eyes, electricity sparking through his fur.

"A mink all the way out here, huh? Who could possibly beat you up like this?" Law asked, stopping right in front of the bear.

Bepo's eyes grew watery with hope, "You know of Mink? Bring me home?"

"I can't bring you home now, I'm not strong enough," Law admitted with a shrug, "I'm looking for strong people to join my crew, because I'm going to set sail for the Grand Line one day and achieve my dreams, and anyone who can take a beating like you did, I'd welcome their strength."

"Mink strong." Bepo stated with a nod, "Bepo."

"I'm Trafalgar D. Water Law, and if you agree, you're new Captain."

"Captain," Bepo agreed.

A smile worked its way to Law's mouth, the action repeated by the Mink in front of him. From a Mink, even a small smile looked dangerous, but not to Law, Law knew that his meekest crew member wouldn't hurt him, despite how fierce Bepo grew under all that apologizing.

"Good," Law stated, and the smile twisted back into a more comfortable smirk, "First things first, we've got to treat your wounds. I can't have you bleeding all over the town, that wouldn't reflect well on my abilities as a Captain."

"I'm sorry."

Law shook his head softly, showing Bepo that there was no need to be sorry, and gestured that the Mink follow him. The polar bear stood, and it was actually surprising when Law realized that he was taller than his 'new' recruit. There were very slim moments of time that Law was taller than Bepo, and he'd forgotten that their meeting had been one of those. Still, he didn't allow the surprise to stall him, and they made their way to a hotel.

"There is no way that we will let a mangy  _monster_  like that spend the night - "

The glare that Law gave her stopped her dead in her tracks, she took several steps backwards and just stared at the child in front of her, dumbstruck. At that moment, she expected the child to pull out his sword and cut her open.

"Bepo is staying with me," Law stated, and his voice was steel, he'd have no argument from the small-minded, weak woman in front of him.

Without another word, Law strode out of the entrance hall of this particular hotel, and into the hallways leading to the suite he'd just paid for. Bepo blinked, looking at the back of his Captain, and back to the woman. Bepo bowed low to the woman before scurrying after Law. The second that they entered the room, Law directed Bepo to wash thoroughly in the shower.

Bepo was pretty silent as he went about doing the given task, letting Law a minute to his thoughts. He had Bepo, and the Mink wasn't hurt overly much, but there was still the issue of finding his other wayward and idiotic crewmates on this island. Penguin and Shachi were the types who needed to be shown strength to gain their allegiance.

Bepo came out of the shower, and Law immediately set to work on the Mink.

Within the next half hour, the open wounds on Bepo were stitched closed, even with the lack of pain medication on hand, and the very rudimentary needle and thread set that Law had.

"Is there anyone else strong on this island that I might want on my crew?" Law asked Bepo as the Mink looked at his treated injuries in a nearby mirror.

Bepo gave his new Captain a watery look.

"The ones that hurt you, would you be okay if I asked them to join?" Law asked instead, his gaze carefully blank. He wasn't sure what he would do if Bepo said no, how do you weigh the importance of a future crewmate against one another? As a Captian, it was something he promised to never do, not after seeing how Doflamingo treated his crew. Even when they were considered his family, it came with tiers and a contract a mile long.

Law would never become that way, and even in this second life, he'd live in a way that Corazon could be proud of.

Bepo seemed to be thinking it over, his mouth falling open in thought, the start of a trait that would continue into adulthood, "Owe Captain, what you want?"

The lack of vocabulary was a sign of just how few people interacted with Bepo, and it gave Law a bubbling rise in rage, a want to break his promise to Cora-san and just slaughter the people who treated Bepo so inhumanely.

Instead, he held it in, "Let's meet the people in question before we come to a decision."

...

...

...

Luffy's laugh echoed through the entire forest when, for the first time in over a month, he performed a damn near flawless Gomu Gomu no Pistol.

"You're getting better at that, maybe one day you'll get a single win against me," Ace noted, not joking or exaggerating, just speaking as though it was a simple fact that Luffy would be nearly lucky to get even one win out of fifty that they usually did sparred daily.

"Ace-nii isn't a time traveller like me, so I will catch up much easier." Luffy bluntly stated in return.

Ace just snorted disbelievingly, "Your ' _Torao_ ' isn't here to play time traveller with you Luffy, you can drop it."

"Shishishishishi~" Luffy snickered, giving Ace a wide grin.

He did miss Torao though, he hadn't called through the Den-Den Mushi still. Luffy knew that his ally could protect himself, just like he had a week ago, but that didn't make the way for Torao to check in more quickly go away.

...

...

...

Bepo had led the two of them to the area that Shachi and Penguin hung out. It was... Quant, to put a word to it. Then again, the same could be said for the ship that Law currently had, so maybe the judgement wasn't deserved. The two were inside the handmade hut, sat on chairs that seemed to have been pulled out of other peoples trash.

"Shachi, the bear came back for a second beating, and he brought a friend!" Penguin sang out, sounding way to happy about the situation.

"I'm sorry..." Bepo muttered, looking downward, half hiding behind Law.

"Haahahaha! The freak is still so meek, he hasn't changed a bit!" Shachi exclaimed, and the moment both of them had risen to their feet, they rushed forward. The show that followed was a joke. Law had been through hell for most of his life, spent time on the crew of Doflamingo's, he could protect himself from people who were barely strong enough to be a rookie pirate from this sea.

Within seconds both Penguin and Shachi were floored, on their knees in front of Law.

Law just ignored them completely and turned to Bepo with a blank expression. He didn't want this own bias to affect the Mink's choice.

"Bepo?"

"Captain..." Bepo muttered, his large wide eyes taking in the sight of the two people who'd hurt him so badly, that nearly caused him to use Electro to protect himself for fear of losing his life, and he swallowed nervously, "Nakama?"

"Eh?" Shachi and Penguin both inquired, confused, and beyond worried for their life. They would have run away if they thought it would have helped at all.

"You sure, Bepo?" Law asked, but a smirk was starting to make an appearance out of the blank slate he'd moulding himself into.

"Yes." Bepo simply stated.

Law let the smirk grow to full size as he turned toward the two skittish figures, "It's your lucky day, Bepo is your new senior. If you want, you can join my pirate crew."

The two looked at one another.

After witnessing his strength first hand, seeing the way that Law acted, was there really any other answer?

"Yes, Captain."

...

...

...

"Ehhh?! This is our ship, Captain?" Shachi asked incredulously, looking at what seemed to be a half broken  _floaty_  tied up at the dock.

Law didn't blame them, the ship hadn't taken traversing through the sea's very well at all. It barely made it the whole way to Swallow Island. They would need to get another ship before moving on, something that didn't endanger his crew to be aboard. Having said that, within the next few years there was another stop that they would need to make.

The Polar Tang was waiting for them, after all.

"We'll just have to take one then, we are a pirate crew," Law stated, ignoring the anxiety that worked up within the two human crewmates.

"Captain?" Bepo asked, tilting his head to the side.

Law gave a smirk in return and patted Bepo's shoulder, "Don't worry about it, Bepo."

"Okay..."

"SO EASILY?!"

"I'm sorry."

Law was glad that he had started to walk ahead because he didn't know how he possibly could have explained having a smile this wide.

...

...

...

Over a year had passed on both Dawn and Swallow Island, and things were starting to pick up speed. Law considered himself strong enough to take on most threats in this particular blue rather easily now. His devil fruit, while nowhere near what it used to be, had been trained into the dirt. The increased diameter of use was now battle ready, and Law's body was starting to become toned as well. Puberty was in full swing, annoying as that was, but Law wasn't one to let biology rule him, and he quickly learned to calm his hormone-ridden body.

Usually, after training, Law would lean against Bepo and read a book, Shachi and Penguin nearby, likely gazing at girls, but if not that, training or eating was the most likely candidate.

Luffy had gained back most of his basic attacks. They still didn't go as far, but the more that he stretched himself, the better they were getting, and it was a slow but noticeable improvement, even for someone as impatient as Luffy.

Eventually, he even got that one win off of Ace, though Ace complained about it being a fluke.

Ace had started to learn manners as well, something that Luffy had quickly turned down once again. Manners never helped him, he traversed the Grand Line perfectly fine without them. If they were needed, then Luffy would just let Nami do the talking, that's part of the reason he had such skilled nakama. Hearing that logic straight from Luffy's mouth resulted in a few facepalms, which Luffy just thought was funny.

In fact, Luffy started to like doing that to people.

In his first life he hadn't taken advantage of it, but the shocked look that people had whenever you surprised them a lot was just so funny. The best ones came when Gramps told his crew about his father, or even when the crew found at that Luffy had brothers.

It was just too good to pass up.

He started to do it on purpose.

He used his rubber powers in front of random people, getting a kick out of the way their eyes would bulge in amazement, and Luffy would laugh at them whenever he remembered that moment for the rest of the day.

Ace was starting to catch onto his brother's new hobby, but there wasn't exactly anything that he could do about it.

...

...

...

"This is Monkey D. Luffy, the man that will become King of the Pirates," Law heard the Den-Den Mushi proclaim the second Luffy picked up.

Law had told Shachi, Penguin, and Bepo to expect something like that, but they still looked taken back by the boldness of the claim, "Mugiwara-ya, this is Trafalgar Law. Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin are with me."

"The fighting bear?!" Luffy asked with excitement, the Den-Den Mushi's eyes widening in amazement.

Law bit back a sigh, "Yes, the fighting bear, Monkey-ya. Tell me, how is the training going?"

The Den-Den Mushi was a miracle worker in the way that it managed to actually copy the magnificent pout that Luffy was pulling off, "It's harder than I thought it would be. I don't stretch as far as I used too, but mostly I'm trained with all of my basic attacks. It took me years last time. I even managed to beat Ace-nii in a spar! Of course, Gramps is still beating me up. I told him that I made an alliance with another pirate, I even told him that you wanted to be a Yonko. He was pretty pissed! Shishishishishi~!"

Law could feel his eye twitch with annoyance.

"You didn't, by chance, tell that Gramps of yours my name, did you?"

"Sure did!"

"Next time I see you, Monkey-ya, I'm replacing your hands with your feet."

"COOOOOOOLLLL -"

Before Luffy could finish the exclamation, Law hung the Den-Den Mushi up and pinched the bridge of his nose. Dealing with Luffy-ya was going to send Law into an early grave, he could sense it.

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Author Note: I had been considering putting all of the childhood scenes into this one chapter, but I'm splitting it up into this, and the next chapter. I had a few reviews asking who the woman was, honestly didn't know I was being that subtle. It's technically speaking his mother, but it doesn't really matter for the story purposes right now. Just now that it was someone Luffy considered himself really close too - It's part of the reason he was so broken up when he lost Sabo in his first life because the loses had piled onto each other. She's meant to be sort of a blank space so that I can slide the canon in should Oda-sensei ever grace us with the information.
> 
> Question Time:
> 
> Are there any other ships that you would like to see in this story? (I'm open to pretty much everything, though no guarantees!)


	4. Chapter 4

"We're meeting with Monkey-ya soon," Law declared, walking out onto the deck of the ship that they had stolen last year. Thus far, they hadn't really done anything as far as pirating goes. In fact, they didn't even fly a Jolly Roger yet. When Shachi and Penguin had asked their Captain the reasoning behind it, the answer was simple. This wasn't their ship; it was just a stepping stone.

"Finally! We've wanted to meet this guy forever! You made us wait so long, Captain!" Shachi complained, but shared an enthusiastic grin with Penguin.

Law raised an eyebrow toward the two, "If you wanted to meet him, you should have mentioned it sooner."

The two fell into silence before Penguin whispered to Shachi, "I hate it when he makes good points like that..."

"I know right?" Shachi whispered back.

"Does that mean you've hated Captain the whole time then?" Bepo announced out of nowhere with innocent curiosity, his hearing better than humans, allowing him to hear what the two were saying.

"SHUT UP BEPO!" Penguin exclaimed frantically, waving his arms frantically and shooting his captain a worried look.

"I'm sorry..."

Law walked over to Bepo and stood next to the bear, an almost lazy smirk spreading across his lips in his amusement toward his crew's interaction. Bepo had swiftly forgiven the two over the years and they all became friends and trusted crewmates - They also happened to be far stronger than they were the last time around. Law having them sparring against one another all the time to make sure that they were more prepared for the Grand Line.

"Bepo set course for Dawn Island," Law ordered. Bepo bowed slightly, a look of excitement in his eyes.

"Yes, Captain!" Bepo enthused.

The Mink had been studying for years now to become the sort of navigator who could eventually find his way home, as well as lead his Captain anywhere he wanted to go. Law facilitated his studies, getting Bepo sea charts and compasses, texts and studies, anything that might help the mink farther his skill. Bepo was an even better navigator than he was the first time around.

His map drawing skills still absolutely sucked though.

They were off soon as Bepo reached the helm. Law leaned against the wall and thought over the mass of information he currently had available to him. Considering he was soon stealing the Polar Tang, he did have things that he needed to speak to his ally about in person, there was planning to be done.

He closed his eyes and felt the sun, relaxing, letting his thoughts run wild and plans start to form.

Law suddenly moved his head to the side slightly as a fist embedded itself into the wood behind him. His eyes slide open and a lazy smirk appeared on his face as he looked at Shachi. The crewmates were under order to try to surprise attack Law, as a way to help train his Observational Haki. For a second Shachi looked disappointed that his attack failed, but that didn't last long, "That's our Captain~ Always on guard!"

"Maybe it's not that I'm always on guard, but that you just aren't very good at sneak attacks," Law suggested, allowing his eyes to close once again.

"He's got you there, Shachi!" Penguin declared with a laugh.

"SHUT UP! I HAVEN'T SEEN YOU HIT HIM EITHER!" Shachi complained, waving his arms around wildly, "Besides, Captain doesn't have to be so mean about it!"

"Captain probably thinks it's the only way a lesson will get through that dumb-ass skull of yours!"

"URGHHHH GET OVER HERE PENGUIN, BACK YOUR WORDS UP!"

The two started to run around the small amount of room on the ship, Shachi having every intention of dragging his longtime friend into a battle of pride, to prove that he was the stronger man. Yet, whenever Shachi got close enough to Penguin, his fellow crewmate managed to slip away. It was beyond annoying, Shachi had no clue how the man was doing it. It was getting to the point where Shachi had to wonder if Penguin ate a devil fruit and hadn't told anyone!

Law continued to smirk, watching his crewmates with closed eyes, sensing them out with Observational Haki, and if he used his devil fruit ability to help Penguin sometimes, it was just for training, nothing else.

...

...

...

"WAAAAAA! Time goes by so fast!" Luffy exclaimed, stretching toward the sun as he woke up from a nap. It had already been three years since he came back in time, and already he was getting much stronger than he originally was.

He fought Ace daily as training, and he won half the time, only improving from there.

It also helped Ace improve faster, but Luffy's growth rate surpassed Ace's just by virtue of having knowledge Ace lacked.

"Don't be so loud, Lu, I was trying to take a nap." Ace complained, sitting up himself and running a hand down his face.

"Hmmm..." Luffy mused, thinking briefly before giving his brother a grin, "Not sure that your mystery sleep sickness can be considered taking a nap."

"It's called Narcolepsy, we've been over this." Ace reminded, but there was a gentle look in his eye as he looked at Luffy, a crooked smile coming to his lips. He had become much more patient with the Luffy-isms over the last few years. Makino's lessons really affected him - but that wasn't all. Just being around Luffy, someone who didn't care about Gol D. Roger, someone who accepted Ace so easily.

_Someone with so much hope that they could believe Sabo was still alive..._

It really started to rub off on you after awhile.

"What's got you in such a good mood, Lu?" Ace asked, though it wasn't easy to tell Luffy was happier than normal, there was even more glow to him than their normal.

"Torao is coming for a visit!" Luffy enthused.

Ace's crooked smile faded and he looked over to the side with a scowl, "That guy is coming back, huh..."

Luffy talked about him all the time. Whenever his Torao called him on the Den-Den Mushi, Luffy would drop everything to go and check to see what Torao was saying, what update the man had for him. He'd sit there for hours and talk about all the things he did in his day, but the worst part was that Torao would listen to it, even if only passively. Ace couldn't get angry about the happiness Luffy got from those moments but...

He was the big brother, he could do the same thing, and then Luffy wouldn't need this Torao character when he had his big brother.

"Mhmm~! He's probably gotten really strong too! He got his talking bear and two other crewmates! He's gonna be a Yonko one day!" Luffy continued to praise, unaware of Ace's darkening mood.

"His devil fruit is sooooo cool! He can take peoples legs off like FWWAAAAH and reattach them like PHSSSSSTCHH!"

As Luffy continued on, his gestured wildly, miming the sort of actions that Law did when using his fruit, grabbing a stick to use in place of Kikoku, "He goes 'Room!' and this huge bubble appears, and he can TELEPORT himself around inside of the bubble!"

Ace could feel his eye twitching, as Luffy just didn't stop. It was in that moment that he promised himself, he would definitely beat Trafalgar Law, he'd get an even cooler devil fruit than Trafalgar Law, and he would unmistakably become a Yonko before Trafalgar Law ever got the chance!

...

...

...

"We're nearly there, Mugiwara-ya," Law told Luffy the second the younger ally picked up the Den-Den Mushi but hung up before he could receive the loud response one would expect from Monkey D. Luffy.

"Hey Captain, what's this island like?" Penguin asked as the place crept farther into their vision.

Law thought back to his last time on the island and fought the urge to frown. There was a poison deep down in this place, although the small village on the outskirts didn't seem that bad, they were still filled with cowards and judgmental people for the most part. Makino-ya had been the only exception to that. They would be avoiding the mainland of Goa Kingdom - Because if even one of those people looked sideways at Bepo after what Law had seen here last time...

"The place we'll be staying is bland, but I'm sure Monkey-ya will add some excitement," Law eventually stated, his tone dry.

Within the next twenty minutes they were docked and tied, Law nodded his head off the ship and the crew debarked. Before leaving, Law handed Bepo his sword, which the Mink had taken to holding just as he had previously.

"TORAAAAOOOOOO!"

Luffy-ya came rocketing in at high speeds, nearly knocking Law into the water, if Bepo hadn't been behind him to brace his captain.

"Mugiwara-ya, please try not to kill us in the future," Law stated as calmly as he could but was progressively getting more annoyed as he noticed his rubber ally had somehow managed to wrap his arms around Law's torso multiple times, creating an uncomfortably snug sensation.

"Shishishishishi, Torao's crew wouldn't let Torao die!" Luffy proclaimed, looking at Law with a bright smile.

Law couldn't exactly refute that, knowing well that if he were to fall in, it was likely that all three would jump in the drink to fish him out. Besides, despite all three of them trying to hide it - to varying levels of success - they were all so clearly flattered their ally thought so well of them without even having met them.

"Caaappptttaaaaiiinnn~ Introduce us properly!" Penguin whined, bouncing on his heels.

"Once I have blood circulation again. Release, Mugiwara-ya," Law demanded of the rubber _child_.

"Shishishishi, sorry!" Yet, despite his words, Luffy-ya seemed shameless and without regret as he released his hold.

Once the blood flow had returned to Law's arms, he looked at Luffy and pointed a thumb back toward his crew with a small smirk, "This is my crew, Mugiwara-ya. Now let's go, we have a lot of planning to do."

"Alright!"

With that, the two left without a backward glance to the three Heart Pirates whose jaws were slightly gapped at the lame way their captain had just introduced them. Bepo quickly followed after the two, not wanting his Captain to be without his sword, but Shachi and Penguin stood shock still for another minute or so.

...

...

...

"Now that we're all here, I can talk about some of the ideas that I came up with," Law spoke, alluding to disapproval for how long it had taken Shachi and Penguin to catch up, though he knew some of the blame lay with himself for the teasing.

"Don't be like that, Captain! We were really put out by the lame way that you introduced us, plus we weren't expecting him to be such a little kid, you can't blame us for that!" Penguin defended, Shachi quickly nodded in agreement.

Luffy was eyeing Bepo with a disturbing amount of interest.

"He's not food, Monkey-ya."

"I know that!" Luffy pouted because he'd met minks before, but that didn't stop the ideal curiosity he had, "I just really want to know if he'd taste good or not!"

"Well, if you're starving on an island and you have to eat one of my crew members, you can eat Bepo first," Law stated, not really sure why he was bothering with that line of conversation - But being around Luffy-ya brought out that childishness from somewhere inside of him.

"Captain!" Bepo squeaked out, flinching away from the dark eyes of the ten-year-old that was still eyeing him up.

Law just casually waved his navigator off and changed the subject, "Anyway, as I was saying, I have the pretty solid idea, as long as you agree with it."

"I don't really care about this planning stuff," Luffy bluntly stated, his eyes blank in his oncoming boredom.

"It involves the plan to save Freckles-ya."

Luffy's eyes immediately sharpened and met with Law's strikingly intense and slightly sunken in orbs. Seeing his allies immediate attention, Law launched into an explanation, "I believe that we should let Freckles-ya get captured, that we should let the War of the Best occur, and save your brother at the execution stand."

There was a spark of what might have been anger building in Luffy's eyes at the idea, so Law quickly continued.

"It's perfect. If we were to win at the War of the Best, escape with Freckle-ya after facing some of the best the marines have to offer, they wouldn't dare to go after Whitebeard's precious son again. It would help us to build a reputation, but not only that, Doflamingo would be there, so as long as we pull this off correctly, we could both gain exponentially from doing it this way."

Luffy went silent, bowing his head slightly as he thought over what Torao had presented. He really wasn't good at planning things, this is one of those times that he wished Robin or Nami were with him, instead he'd have to make the decision himself. He trusted Torao though, and he knew for sure that his ally, his Nakama, wouldn't betray him, especially when it came to his brother's life.

"Alright, I trust Torao! But in return I want something too," Luffy demanded, his eyes far too hard and determined for someone who appeared his age.

Shachi and Penguin stiffened at the demanding tone that the young ally took up with their Captain. They didn't take offence, but they had seen the way their captain had treated people who dared to demand something of him before and depending on his mood, it fluctuated, but he even got ticked off at the crew if they tried to demand something. Something they quickly learned to avoid.

Instead of getting angry though, Law just felt amused, amused and curious. Luffy-ya wanted to bargain with him, wanted to make a _deal_ with him, as if they were equals in that area.

"And what is it you want, Monkey-ya?" Law drawled out, his tone as amused as he felt.

If Luffy heard the amusement, it gave him no pause, "You have to make sure that Ace's father makes it out of the War of the Best alive."

Because Luffy knew his brother. If the War of the Best happened, and Whitebeard was to die and Ace was to live, Ace would _never_ forgive himself for it. Luffy was the older brother now, so even if Ace didn't believe that. Luffy knew he had to watch out for Ace's heart that much more, just as Ace had watched out for Luffy's.

There was silence as the two held each other's gaze, maybe for too long, because Shachi shifted on his weight and whispered to Penguin, "You have any idea what either of them is on about?"

"SSSHHHHHHH!" Penguin hissed back.

Law tried to imagine just how that would fit into his plans. He had every intention of killing Doflamingo at the War of the Best, but could he afford to split his attention toward Whitebeard to make sure that he lived? Whitebeard was one of the main targets of the War, and the man had gotten far too many fatal wounds throughout that battle, something that Law remembered seeing through the recordings of the event. Whitebeard had been practically wanton to die there. Nevertheless, there were other upsides to Whitebeard living. If he lived, the less predictable Blackbeard wouldn't be able to push for Yonko status, the New World would remain stable, and the Whitebeards would come out of that war owing to the Strawhat Heart alliance a hell of a lot. With a little bit of preemptive action, the chances would increase exponentially.

As Law continued to entertain his thoughts, he bought time before he came to a decision, "Not going to make me swear to keep Freckles-ya alive as well?"

"No," Luffy bluntly stated and there was that failure in his eyes that Law had seen only twice. Once when he had treated Luffy-ya after Marineford, and once so many years ago... Looking at himself in the mirror after losing his sister, "It's my responsibility to save Ace."

_To make up for the time that I failed - That I wasn't strong enough._

Law was still firmly of the opinion that FireFist dying had been his own fault, but doubted that Luffy would agree with that.

"Who knew you drove such a hard bargain, Monkey-ya," But the balance of positives outweighed the negatives by far, "Seems like we have a deal."

"Shishishishishi, I knew that Torao would see it my way!" Luffy cheered abruptly, breaking the serious atmosphere that had been created.

"It's under the caveat that you actually follow the plan I make, Mugiwara-ya, so you'll have to actually control yourself for once."

Luffy abruptly pouted, "Boring."

...

...

...

The rest of the time spent on the island was much more light-hearted. Law especially was having an amusing time keeping the meaning and plans that he made from his crewmates that were desperately trying to dig around for understanding. They would never actually get it, as they were missing the key piece, time travel, something they would never just guess themselves. The biggest bit of amusement came from them actually asking Luffy-ya for answers, and Luffy-ya actually _purposely_ gave them an answer that sounded like absolute bullshit.

"Mugiwaaarraaaaa~ Tell us what Captain is planning!" Penguin begged, Shachi nodding along with him.

Bepo was stood next to Law, both of them just watching their livelier crew members act out.

"Eh? Planning?" Luffy questioned, pausing as though to think about it, "We're time travellers from the future who have come back in time. Torao and I are planning the downfall of the government, as well as myself becoming Pirate King, and Law becoming a Yonko. Our first step in world domination will be taking down several of the War Lords, after which we'll break into several government facilities including Enies Lobby and burn them to the ground. After we have damaged the World beyond repair we'll stand on the ashes and laugh."

Penguin and Shachi just stared dumb-founded by Luffy.

"Just kidding! Shishishishishi!~" Luffy gasped out between bouts of mad laughter, "You should see your faces! SHISHISHISHI!"

Law snorted in an attempt to keep his own laughter inside, though he was also shocked by Mugiwara's response. Last time they'd met, he was sure that the rubber-Captain wasn't the type to come up with a joke like that.

Though he was technically somewhere around twenty-two mentally now, so a maturing sense of humour was to be expected.

"Captain... Who is that?" Bepo suddenly asked, pointing his paw toward a fast approaching blur of dark hair.

Law's near laughter died off, but an amused smirk stayed on his lips, perhaps even widened when he saw a frantic Freckles-ya coming into view, "That's an 'older' brother."

Bepo looked at the boy who skidded to a stop right in front of Luffy, immediately searching his Captain's partner over, and had to admit that his Captain put it best. That's a big brother at its finest. Zepo was pretty similar whenever he was home...

Bepo sniffled at the reminder and started to nuzzle Law. It was something that Law had gotten used to after all these years, and it was an action typical for minks, so Law just gave a small sigh and let his crewmate take the comfort that he wanted.

"GROUP HUG!" Penguin declared, jumping onto the pile that was Bepo and Law.

"WAIT FOR ME CAAAPPPTAAAAIIINNN~" Shachi followed, attaching himself to Law's side.

The group hug lasted all of five seconds before the crying Bepo took hold of Shachi and Penguin and lifted them off the ground in his embrace, getting them wet with his tears.

"AAAHHHHH LET GO BEPO!"

Bepo placed them and straightened them out before bowing his head with shame painted across his features, "I'm sorry..."

"... AND HANGING AROUND WITH YOUR TORAO IS BAD ENOUGH BUT NOW HE'S GOT SOME MORE WEIRDOS AROUND HIM! I TOLD YOU TO LET ME COME WITH YOU WHEN YOU WERE GOING TO MEET UP WITH TORAO..."

Ace continued to rant toward Luffy, pointing toward the group of crewmembers interacting with a _talking bear_ as if it were normal. Luffy just listened to his brother rant on and on with a beaming look on his face. Ace being worried about Luffy always brought a smile, _because there was still an Ace around to be worried,_ and that's all that Luffy truly cared about.

...

...

...

Soon after Ace came around, Law decided that it was time to leave. Much as he would have _loved_ to stay around and tease Freckles-ya, the Polar Tang was waiting for them, and if they didn't make their move soon, it would be near impossible to obtain the ship - as well as it's incredibly talented engineer. So, they set sail, Luffy waving them off with a smile.

"IT WAS NICE TO MEET YOU, TALKING BEAR!" Luffy exclaimed, before finally, they were out of earshot.

Penguin and Shachi were squirming on the ground with the force of the laughter, "MUGIWARA ONLY REMEMBERS YOU AS A BEAR AHAHAHAHA!"

Bepo looked down toward the deck, depression dripping over his shoulders, "... I'm sorry..."

"Monkey-ya is just bad with names, Bepo," Law clarified, thinking back to his own given nickname, "He probably didn't even bother coming up with a nickname for Shachi or Penguin, they weren't _cool_ enough."

"Waaaa, Captain is so hurtful~!" Shachi whined, taking Bepo's place in depression, as the Mink perked up and took toward the helm.

...

...

...

"Are you sure that we have to do this?" Shachi whispered, their ship was hidden in the shadows as they overlooked the marine base that they were about to enter.

Law just had a calm smile on his face.

The level of this base was far below their current level. The first time that they had done this, they had gotten out without more than a few scratches. This time, Law had a better plan of action, and his crewmates were far stronger than they originally were. Besides, there was no changing Law's mind once his eyes slide toward that familiar shape docked on a marine shore, painted that ugly marine blue and white that was practically begging to be re-done with its destined yellow and black.

"Yes," Law declared, and for the first time in awhile, he was coolly walking around with his own sword, "Do you remember the plan?"

"Bepo, Shachi, and I go to the submarine and take it over; you'll meet up with us there within the next thirty minutes." Penguin recited, his words drawled out with boredom because it was nearly the third time he'd had to repeat the plan.

It meant that their captain was really concerned for them, but that didn't make it less annoying.

Nor did it stop them from being concerned for their Captain in return, which Shachi showed a moment later, "Are you sure that you want to go alone, you should at least bring one of us with you."

"No, I just have to grab something and get out. If I get into trouble I can just create a larger room and be out within seconds." Law reasoned out, casually waving the idea away.

The plan was simple, but that was why it was going to work better than the last one had. There was no reason for an intricate plan when this place really wasn't deserving of something like that. The more details just added more complications. This was undoubtedly better - Experience had taught Law that sometimes it was better to not over think the plan.

Despite his crewmate's reluctance, they were off to obey their orders within the next ten minutes, leaving Law to his own task.

Despite his spotted hat and jeans, his bright yellow hoodie, and a huge ass sword leaned against his shoulder, the marines completely ignored Law beyond a few weird looks.

East Blue marines, the most pathetic sort that there were.

Alarms started to blare only after Law was already well inside of the base, the halls were soon filled marines rushing to get toward the sub, toward Bepo, Shachi, and Penguin. Despite knowing that these weaklings couldn't touch his crew...

"Room."

At the order and outstretched hand, a bubble appeared around Law, and within seconds, the near fifty men that were headed toward the subs were without limbs, Law just stepped over them and placing Kikoku back into her home without a backward glance. He finally found it less than a minute later.

The workshop.

He entered swiftly, though he entertained himself with the thought of knocking. In the middle of the room, she was there, protective mask over her face as she welded metal together, Ikkaku, wearing a boiler suit, heavy leather gloves. Just how he remembered her too, the second that he entered the room, she cut her work off and pulled the mask off and spoke, "Listen, I don't give a shit what you're trying to pull, just leave my work alone. I get enough bull from those marine shit-heads."

"You're in luck then, I require your services," Law stated, an amused look coming to his face.

She just snorted, "Yeah, you and everyone else who ends up on this base."

"You see, I just came into the acquisition of a submarine that will need a mechanic of the highest skill. I wouldn't dare settle for second best."

Law just looked at her expectantly, and the woman gained a blossoming smile, "You don't mean to tell me you've liberated my baby from these morons...?"

Law didn't say anything, just tilted his head toward the door.

"So long as you don't stick your foot into my work like you know the first thing about it..." She asked, for the first time, she seemed almost cautious.

"I'm a doctor, not a mechanic. Just don't blow the crew up."

"Aye-aye, Captain~!" She simpered, and practically skipped toward where the ship was docked, completely ignoring the mess of limbs that littered the hallway as she went.

Law followed after her, glad that he had grown nearly to his old height because otherwise, he'd have to sprint at top speeds to keep up with her as she rushed over to see the fruits of her labour. The unabashed horror that flooded into her eyes at the sight of the sub was enough to have Law snort his amusement before he called over to his three other crewmates, "She's joined the crew."

"S-SHE?!" Both Penguin and Shachi exclaimed, looking ready to fall over the railing to see who could reach her first and introduce themselves.

Instead, she jumped up onto the ship with tears in her eyes, "OH MY LOVE! WHAT HAVE THEY DONE TO YOU?!"

She frantically ran across the deck of the sub, moaning over the ugly paint job that they gave her baby, her true love, and with each word, both Shachi and Penguin started to deflate, "My best work and look at what they've done! Oh, baby, don't worry! I'll give you so much TLC you won't even remember the trauma."

As she spoke, she was actually rubbing affectionately against the wall of the sub, as if it could feel.

"Before we set sail, you should probably introduce yourself, Mechanic-ya."

She cooed at the ship a bit more before the words finally sunk in and she reluctantly turned toward her new crewmates. The same simper that she'd had before returned to her lips as she pointed a thumb toward her chest and declared, "I'm Ikkaku, mechanic, and unashamedly in love with my own creations."

"Welcome to the Heart Pirates, Ikkaku-ya, you'll fit in just fine." Law stated dryly, getting onto the ship himself with the rest of his crew and turning to her again, "You should probably submerge us so that we can lose the marines, once we get a safe distance, you can run wild with all the checks I'm sure you're dying to do."

Ikkaku looked about ready to talk back, but knowing that she would be able to do maintenance soon as they were safe, she dropped her arm and nodded to her new captain, going below deck, Law following afterwards.

"...Oi, what do you think he meant by the fact that she would fit right in?" Shachi asked Penguin, who promptly facepalmed and walked in after their Captain, ignoring his longtime friend's question, causing Shachi to turn to Bepo with a questioning look.

Bepo gained a look of deep sympathy, "I'm sorry..."

"OI! WHY DID THAT SEEM DIFFERENT FROM YOUR OTHER SORRIES?!" Shachi protested, but Bepo was already gone, leaving Shachi to follow and close the hatch up after himself, locking it into place.

...

...

...

Years passed and Law had quickly started to gain a reputation. His entering the Grand Line had his bounty breaking 120,000,000 beli, and he'd gained quite a few of his crewmates since they took the Polar Tang. So far, one of his crewmembers had also gained a bounty, Ikkaku the Mechanic with 58,000,000. It was earned through her betrayal of the marines, and when she'd read the reasoning, she gave a mocking laugh - As if she'd _ever_ actually been on the marines side! She'd been forced to work for them, practically been a slave.

Luffy had gotten stronger as well, then again, who didn't after six years. Eventually, his body had enough physical conditioning that he could practice some of his more powerful attacks without damage to himself. Second Gear and Third Gear became available to him, and even Fourth Gear was within reach. Though Luffy didn't dare to touch the technique he'd used against Kaido yet, the majority of his skills were back at his fingertips. However, his haki was definitely still rusty and would need polishing again through battle.

He almost wished that Torao visited more often so that they could spar, but they hadn't met face to face since the last time six years ago, and wouldn't until they met up before Luffy set sail. Torao said that he'd be there to see Luffy off before he went to grab his first crew members.

Monkey D. Luffy was beyond excited to see Torao again. In the meantime, he went back to practising the only one of those stupid marine powers he'd ever actually managed to learn. Not that he remembered the name, but since he did base part of Gear Second on it, Luffy thought it would be pretty cool to learn outside of that.

...

...

...

They had been sailing the Grand line for a few years now, and they were seasoned compared to some of the other newly immerging members of the Worst Generation. Law honestly had no intention of moving into the New World without his ally by his side, and he wasn't exactly in a rush, all his plans were in place and would come to the forefront within the next year, but a part of that plan required that they momentarily navigate the treacherous waters of the New World.

Law needed to meet Whitebeard to lay the important groundwork.

"You've installed the latest updates, right, Ikkaku-ya?" Law spoke, looking at the woman who made the underbelly of the sub her personal playground.

"Hai hai, Senchō~ I already told you this five times," Ikkaku stated a subtle fond exasperation in her voice. Law heard it but just nodded, "My baby could have gone through the New World without the updates, and now she's perfect and stronger than ever. It's up to Bepo from this point."

Bepo, who would have to quickly learn to use the New Worlds version of the Log Pose via trial-by-fire, Still, Law knew that Bepo could handle it.

All he had to do was give his Mink navigator the heading. Law made his way through the sub, ignoring the loud members of his crew horsing around in the mess hall and slipping passed the infirmary as he finally made it to the control centre of the sub. Bepo had grown to be a practised hand at the controls, though they would still have to wait and meet up with Jean Bart before they officially gained their 'helmsman'.

"Are you sure that you're okay with this, Bepo?" Law asked, and it was almost hesitant, would have been coming from anyone other than Trafalgar D. Water Law.

"I'll bring Captain where he needs to go," Bepo stated with a certainty in his tone that he rarely showed, but had been growing throughout these past years. The biggest boost in confidence had come from teaching the lesser experienced members of the crew martial arts and bringing their skill level up.

"Next time we enter the New World, we'll be stopping at Zou," Law stated in absolute certainty.

If he wanted to gain his Yonko status, he'd have to shape a similar plan to face Kaido, after all. Perhaps not the same as last time, but something similar. It wasn't as though he would just leave the minks to face Jack on their own, especially after they had formed the alliance, even if those Mink don't know what they would be a part of. Something Law was sure that Luffy-ya felt similarly about.

Bepo smiled at his Captain, and his eyes told the tail of certain faith that he had in his Captain.

It was so touching that Law had to look away.

...

...

...

"You have to be kidding, right, RIGHT?! Bepo, tell me that he's kidding!" Shachi screeched out as Law explained where they were and what they would be doing.

Bepo just blinked and shrugged.

"Come on! Captain! Please, I know you like to do some crazy things sometimes, but isn't this just too much?" Shachi tried to reason.

Law just picked his sword up and looked at his crewmember, distinctively unimpressed, "Whitebeard-ya isn't the type to kill us. If anything, he would kidnap us until we agreed to join him."

"HOW IS THAT BETTER?!"

"It won't come to that, though. We're here as allies of Mugiwara-ya, who is Fire Fist Ace's little brother. Freckles-ya has too much of an unhealthy attachment to Monkey-ya to do something that might displease him. This will probably be one of the safer plans we've put into motion." Law explained, and he glanced around the room, all fifteen of his current crew members were staring at him with anxious eyes, worried for their Captain.

Law gave a crooked grin, the likes of which was rare for them to see unless he was doing something particularly dangerous, which really only made the crew worry even more. Last time he made that face, he was using his Devil Fruit to appear in front of the Fleet Admiral of the marines!

"Ikkaku-ya and Bepo, would you join me?" Law asked, and made certain that they knew it was a request and not a polite order.

"Sure thing, Captain~" She drawled out, tasting each word. Bepo just gave a nod, which caused Law to hand the sword over to his Mink as finally, the sub breached the sea.

Law reached out with his Observational Haki and winced slightly as he realized just how many strong people were on that ship, and though he was nearly eighty percent sure that he would escape this, it was still an uneasy feeling. Especially when taking into account that if you could feel someone with your Haki, they could probably feel you in return.

"Room." Law intoned, and the bubble bloomed outward with one last deep breath, Law twisted his hand.

They were on the deck of the Moby Dick within the second.

"- Seems another rookie is here for you, Pops, yoi." A blonde spoke, Marco the Phoenix, looking up toward a man, a legend, who was leaned back in something that could be described as a throne when you looked at the near arrogance he had about him as he lounged on it.

"GURARARARA, let the brat try!" Whitebeard's voice boomed.

The other pirates that were on the deck, the ones that weren't as seasoned, had tensed up and reached for their weapons, it made the division commanders really apparent, as they didn't so much as flinch.

Ikkaku was tensed, far more than Law had ever seen her, likely knowing how outclassed she was in this particular arena. Bepo however, seemed perfectly fine. It wasn't because he couldn't read the situation, but because he trusted that Law could get them out and protect them if needed. It made Law's lips tilt up as he observed his mink only briefly.

"I thought that someone as renowned as Marco the Phoenix would take pause before jumping to a conclusion," Law drawled out, keeping his tone calm and even.

Half-closed eyes drifted over to meet Law's sharp, dark grey ones, "Gonna prove us wrong, gaki?"

"I only came here to discuss something with Freckles-ya as of right now, so yes." Law careless decreed.

A man with one of the weirdest hairdos that Law had ever seen, sans Big Moms crew, saw fit to burst into laughter, "HAHAHAHAHA! FRECKLES! He's gotta be talking about our hot head, holy shit I can't wait to call him that to his face!"

Judging from the fact that Law didn't recognize him, but he was one of the members that remained calm, Law could extrapolate that this was the Division Commander that Blackbeard had murdered and that set everything into place. Thatch, if Law remembered correctly, had a laugh that immediately calmed down all the other members of the pirates.

"What's up with you guys?" Law heard the familiar voice of Ace speaking the second he pushed through some of the other members, "TORAO?!"

"It's Trafalgar D. Water Law," Law stated, wondering just how far that childish nickname would end up following him. Only because Law was looking for it, did he see the slightest of widening in Edward Newgate's eyes, "Part of an agreement I have with Monkey-ya involves coming to see you before he sets sail. Specifically, since he learned about his _step-father_ and heard rumours that he was sick, he wanted me to come here and see if I could give him a check-up."

"Luffy did?!" Ace asked, and his eyes lit up at the mention of his brother.

Before Ace could inquire more, Marco placed an arm in front of the hot-headed commander, "Ace's little brother things that pops needs some upstart doctor, yoi? That's cute."

Law raised an eyebrow, and really, calling him an upstart doctor? As if Law was lacking the prodigious knowledge and powerful devil fruit to back that up? Calling him an upstart doctor would be like calling Whitebeard a pirate with a bounty of about 10,000,000 beli. The comparison was so off that it was hilarious, and if Law hadn't been expecting pushback like that, maybe even insulting.

"In practice, I'm the best doctor around, in theory, I would only get beaten out by Kureha and few others," Law informed, and it would have sounded arrogant if not for the one simple thing, _it was a fact._

"You think highly of yourself, brat," The rumbling voice of Whitebeard spoke up, "One has to wonder if you have the skill to back your arrogance. Coming aboard a Yonko ship without an invite, dismissing our doctor's skills as beneath yours, and still holding your devil fruit ability over our heads as if we are stupid enough not to take notice!"

The words ended in a roar.

Law looked up at the man, an unimpressed look painted on his expression, "You mean you would respect the foolhardy actions of a man that boarded your ship without thought more than I, who keeps my room up just in case I need to keep my crew from harm?"

"Say your piece and leave, boy," Whitebeard commanded.

Law could feel his eyes narrow.

He did not take orders, not from anyone, but absolutely not from his future rival.

Not a whisper left Law's lips as he stared at the man.

"GURARARARA! Fine! I always can appreciate a gutsy brat! Should have expected one of you bastard D's to be so stubborn. You're welcome to say your piece, if not, get off my ship." Whitebeard spoke, giving an illusion of choice.

Law shot the man a look, not falling for it, but also constrained for time and this continued on anyway, "Rumor has it that Whitebeard-ya is feeling is age. I can't fix old age, but if the issue is anything else, or beyond that, there are symptoms I can smooth over using my devil fruit if you allow it. If not, I'll just tell Monkey-ya I tried and leave."

"You can't seriously expect pops to just -"

"What exactly would this entail?" Whitebeard asked, cutting off one of his sons.

Law shrugged, "I use my ability to scan your body, and depending on what I find, I can solve the issue or not. It's non-invasive, though I thought of safeguards that could be put into place as to make sure that we can ... Trust... One another."

Ace was the one that spoke out, "Pops you can't consider this. Torao is after a Yonko position, and -"

"I have no intention of ever facing against the Whitebeard Pirates. When I become a Yonko, I have every intention of taking Kaido's throne. It's a plan I've been making for years."

Moreover, Kaido had the throne most well suited for Law's skills. The whole SMILE thing was very unethical, but the science behind it, and the network involved was something that meshed with a T when he considered his own skill set. It might need a bit of an overhaul so that they weren't experimenting on children, but it was, without doubt, an experiment still worth doing.

"Kaido's the Beast, you Worst Generation brats sure think big," Whitebeard rumbled, amusement in his voice overwhelming the previous strength and suspicion, "What are these safety safeguards you spoke of?"

Law touched a hand to his chest, and as he pulled away, so followed his heart. Last time he had given his heart up for the sake of a mission it was overly dangerous - this time it came with far less risk involved. Whitebeard Pirates, for all their strength, were well known to be incredibly honourable for pirates.

"I will give my heart to your First Division Commander, and if I do anything which is beyond reasonable for my profession, he can crush my heart immediately."

"Captain!" Both of the Heart Pirates that came with his spoke in protest, breaking the silence that had fallen over them when they were met with the sheer atmosphere of a Yonko.

"It's fine!" Law snapped briefly, stopping their complaints, "It's worth it."

"A large chance for a simple favour to a future ally," Whitebeard mused, and Law didn't think Whitebeard completely believed him, but turned toward Marco, "What do you think?"

Marco had been watching the whole thing with eyes focused on the young pirate, studying, trying to pick apart possible modifications and yet, did they matter in the face of his father potentially being healed, maybe even gaining years more with the old man?

"Wouldn't hurt to try, yoi," Marco settles on, holding his hand out with an expectant look.

Law strode forward now; gaining confidence as everything continued to go as planned, and placed his heart in Marco's hands.

Without pause, the second Law wasn't looking, Marco squeezed around the heart in his hand.

Law let out a gasp of pain and his hand flew to his chest, pawing at himself as the feeling flowed into him, he whirled back to pin Marco with a glare.

The blonde was completely unrepentant and just gave the doctor a grin, "Had to be sure, didn't I?"

"You couldn't have simply poked it, Pineapple-ya?" Law asked, his breathing coming back under control before turning back toward Whitebeard. He held up his hands, touching his index finger to the thumb of the opposite side, forming a rectangle and intoned, " **Scan**."

Law started at Whitebeard's feet and moved upward, the rectangle showing an x-ray of Whitebeard's body. The man had several nicked bones, years of fighting and breaking clearly evident. After checking his bones, Law went for another pass, this time he separated his fingers lightly, zooming for lack of a better word, checking the veins. He did it again, checking the muscles, and again, checking the electrical pulses throughout his body, and again, just to confirm everything that he was seeing. This continued for something like half an hour, most of the people relaxed and was interacting with one another, though they did still throw some worried looks at their father. Marco watched the whole thing without a single lapse in concentration - Ace was much the same, and he was the only one that still seemed worried, from the way that he slightly shifted his weight every now and again. Somehow, Ikkaku had started to talk to Thatch, and Bepo was off with the Eighth Division Commander, the Fishman Namur.

Finally, Law dropped his scan with a pensive look on his face, turning toward Marco, "His medical files?"

"He's a Yonko, yoi." Marco simply stated.

"Tch," Law let out, feeling slight annoyance, but he understood. Having a written account of weaknesses wasn't exactly smart for someone of his position. It did mean that there was nothing to compare the current issues with. An inconvenience at most.

"From what I can tell there are a few issues, most of them pretty common for someone your age and having been fighting his whole life."

"GURARARARA, I'll still young enough to beat your ass, arrogant snot!" Whitebeard declared, Law just raised an unimpressed eyebrow.

What was with people, threatening their doctors? It seems that every time Law offered his services people got less and less appreciative of his work, "Be that as it may, I'll continue with the diagnosis now. A lot of the stress is concentrated around your lower torso and into your legs. This is especially prevalent when it comes to the veins in your legs becoming weaker - Your heart no longer as strong as it used to be and is starting to have issues pumping the blood all the way through your body because of just how large you are. Your lower spine faces a similar issue, the tissues between your plates have been worn down because of the access weight it's been forced to deal with for years. The fluids and vitamins that you seem to be on will help, surely, but not solve anything."

There was no fixing old age unless Law wanted to give his life, but that didn't mean he couldn't treat the symptoms.

"I can widen the veins and help restore regular blood flow and add some padding back to the spine, as well as fixing some of the bones that have stress fractures and brittle breaks from the years of fighting." Law finally ended, and those things were possible, but not for someone without his devil fruit. Especially when it came to the spinal work that could be done. No self-respecting doctor liked to touch that area without excessive research, and even then most refused because of how dangerous it was.

Law might have refused himself, even with his devil fruit, but he was a pirate, and all his plans had risks.

"You can really help Pops?" Ace asked, his words hesitant.

"Of course I can, Freckles-ya, I'm not a hack." Law drawled out, but gave the Second Division Commander an almost sadistic look, played up quite a bit, "Of course, it will be excruciatingly painful, stretching all the veins in his lower body at once several for at least a day, and anything to do with the spine needs no anesthesia to be sure it's safe, so that will be incredibly painful as well, one of the most interesting and intricate operations I've ever done, I'm sure."

Last time he had done an operation that he truly looked forward to was on Monkey D. Luffy all those years ago.

Ace's eye was twitching, and Law could see it building up in Freckles-ya. He might have grown from his brat kid self, he might have even learned some manners, but there was no changing your base hot-headed self.

"You're such a weirdo _Torao_ ," Ace gritted out.

What, did Freckles-ya think the nickname annoyed him? He'd gotten over that years ago, repeated use having desensitized him completely.

"Thank you, Freckles-ya," Law said, gratefully, as though being weird was a good thing.

Ace took a step forward, looking so much like he had when Law met him when he was 10 with the bandits, but Law just ignored it and turned back toward his potential patient, who seemed amused by the whole thing, "So, what do you want?"

Law really wanted Whitebeard to agree to the treatment, it could make helping him live through Marineford so much easier, which was the point behind this whole venture. If that didn't work out, it was still useful as he now knew the man's weaknesses and how to watch out for them on the battlefield when the time came. The Yonko held Law's gaze, to which Law just kept himself as blank as possible.

"You had better not be up to something, gaki," Whitebeard eventually stated, but gave a nod.

It was easy to see why when you looked around at the ship.

Ikkaku and Bepo were quickly becoming friends with the other members of the Whitebeard crew, to the point where it seemed there was little to no distrust within them anymore. Those Whitebeard members heard the words Law had said to their father, the potential for him to be healed, and had looked up to their father with hopeful eyes - Truly the sight of a child begging their father for something. Hundreds of those gazes would break anyone down.

Law allowed a smirk to twist to his mouth once again, "I'm glad you agreed. This will be an interesting operation."

...

...

...

It had been a good choice, Ikkaku and Bepo. Those two had a charisma to them that was unassuming. Bepo especially had an innocent, childlike quality to him that Law doubted people knew he played up most of the time. Ikkaku and her confidence had a drawing component to it that would have men and woman falling at her feet, if not for the fact that her true love was the Polar Tang. Law admitted that this might have gone much differently if he hadn't brought them to break the ice between the crews. Law wasn't that way; he didn't easily get along with people.

The surgeries themselves had been every bit as interesting as he'd thought they would be.

Having said that, they were also much more tiring than he'd been expecting.

A clean room was needed for such intricate work around the central nervous system, but despite the fact the sub had one, Whitebeard didn't exactly fit in there. Instead, Law had to continuously keep a barrier with his devil fruit ability to stop particles from moving around in the air, to stop dust from flying into the joints as they were repaired. It was tiring, something that required far more concentration than Law wanted to admit, and by the time that he was done working on Whitebeard, Law had fallen over himself, tired from the continued use of his ability.

The entire time he'd kept the room around both the Polar Tang and the Moby Dick, and it showed.

When Law opened his eyes, it was immediately apparent that he was in some sort of infirmary, likely aboard the Moby Dick.

"Your pretty reckless, Torao, yoi."

Law moved his head to the side and his tired eyes observed the blonde in front of him.

"Trafalgar D. Water Law huh... I've met a lot of D's throughout the years," Marco mused, his deceptively lazy gaze studying Law, "I don't know what it means, but I do know that one D meets another D, they fall into a locked type of relationship with one another. Whether it is enemies, rivals, friends, allies, lovers, brothers, whatever it is, it's like destinies claws and sews them together. I wonder, what exactly is your relationship with our Ace, yoi."

Tired as he was, Law could feel his lips twitch into a smirk, "Pineapple-ya, are you jealous of some perceived _relationship_ between me and your Second Division Commander? How interesting..."

"Oi..." Marco warned, his eyes narrowing.

"Freckles-ya isn't someone I'm interested in, he's too young for me," Law offhandedly mentioned, and did the Phoenix actually relax at those words? Interesting, "Not too young for you though, hmmm?"

Without another word, Marco stood up and dropped Law's heart right onto his chest, ignoring the gasp that escaped its owner as he walked out of the room. Law allowed himself a small snort of amusement. Honestly, Freckles-ya needed someone like that to balance his hot-headedness. Allowing those assumptions to leave his mind, Law pushed his heart back into his chest where it belonged, he wondered why the Phoenix gave it back early but decided it might just be that they didn't need the leverage against him to win if it came to that.

A thought that occurred to him before, now it was even more of a fact, as the Yonko would start come back into a normal state, as opposed to the weakened one that he'd been in for some time.

It would be fun, at least, to explain to Luffy-ya that a pineapple chicken was pining over his brother.

...

...

...

He practically had to pry Ikkaku and Bepo away from the members of the Whitebeard Pirates they had become friends with. That was one of the pulls of a Yonko, it would seem, because despite how loyal they were to him, despite knowing that they wouldn't leave, it was still clear as day that they could be happy there, accepted within those people.

"Thanks for having me, but I have to go before my crew decides to defect," Law stated as they were getting ready to depart.

Bepo hung his head, "I'm sorry..."

"Don't be like that, Captain~ You still have my baby, and I would never leave my baby behind!" Ikkaku declared hearts appearing in her eyes at the very thought of the Polar Tang.

"Yes, very reassuring, Ikkaku-ya," Law drawled out sarcastically before turning back to Whitebeard, "Sleep with your feet elevated, it will help with the circulation issues and help to stop the same issue from forming again."

With that last piece of advice, Law flexed his power, and where the three members of his crew once stood on the Moby Dick, three barrels of _something_ had taken their place. Marco was the one that strode forward and peaked open one of the barrels as the Polar Tang sunk into the depths once again.

"Sake!" Marco declared, a lazy grin coming to his mouth, "That upstart has your number, pops!"

"GURARARARARA!"

The rest of the Whitebeard pirates fell into laughter along with their father, even Ace, who was reluctant to laugh at anything where Torao was involved couldn't help but join in on the jovial atmosphere his crew, his _family_ was creating. If it gave Ace a few more years with his Pops, he'd have to be grateful toward Torao, even though he _REALLY_ didn't want to feel that for him. Still, sometimes thanks needed to be shared, even if between rivals.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Next chapter we have escaped the pre-Romance Dawn stuff and will be entering the East Blue Saga. These beginning chapters have mostly a whole lot of Hearts, which makes sense considering the East Blue is gonna have a WHOLE lot of Strawhats. I probably should have added one more chapter of this pre-Romance Dawn stuff before moving on, but there's nothing for it, I said the last chapter that I would finish that arc up in one closing chapter. Still, this Whitebeard stuff probably could have stood to be in a separate chapter for sure. There are a few bits in here that I just had someone think back to, that will likely show up later in a Flashback or an interlude. I decided to add a sprinkle of a relationship, not that it will matter come up all that much.
> 
> This chapter probably has a lot of mistakes; I read through it a few times and couldn't find anything, but the longer the chapter, the more likely I am to accidentally miss something. If you see something, please point it out to me if you have the time. If not, please ignore it. I've been in touch with a potential betareader but nothing solid thus far. Forgive me~
> 
> Question Time
> 
> I'm going to add two Nakama from the East Blue, can you guess both?

**Author's Note:**

> Author Note: I’ve now ‘pseudo adopted’ this fic from OhhPlease, but I do plan to change things from the very start of the chapter to better fit the characters, and make the cannon change even more than their version. This was one of my first favourite stories, and we talked a lot before I took this story. I do have their outline for it, though I probably won’t end up following it to the letter. 
> 
> The biggest difference between us? I like to use Torao, OhhPlease liked Traffy, please forgive me, senpai but I must change it!


End file.
